In the management of workplace dermal exposure, the control of the process, not the person, is a basic principle. An increased awareness of chemical, physical, and microbiological risk factors in our work environment has led to an increased use of medical and protective gloves. In order to choose the right glove for specific exposures, testing of gloves performance is standardized in several international standards. These standards measure permeation of chemicals and leakage through imperfect membranes. There are also methods for testing the biocompatibility of gloves of polymeric membranes. The exposures are of various kinds and gloves have to be chosen accordingly. No type of glove gives a perfect all-round protection, but there has to be a thorough risk assessment preceding the choice. Combination exposures make the choice of glove to given extra attention. It is always the exposure in the task and length of work that governs the choice of glove. All chemical protective gloves have a limited life, and they should not be used beyond the time for which they can provide protection. A key challenge is the point in time at which the glove ceases to protect. It will, in many cases, not be easily identifiable. As a result, the use of gloves should be, as far as possible, limited to where there is no satisfactory alternative.